Large scale public gatherings, such as sporting events, automobile races, political conventions and rallies, ticker tape parades, and other mass meetings provide opportunities for large numbers of people having an emotional or intellectual attachment to an ideal, organization, team, celebrity athlete, or other focus of attention to meet en masse in a public forum. Most attendees of these gatherings are supporters, boosters or fans of a participant or group of participants in the public event and have a high level of enthusiasm. Sporting events and political conventions are two of the best known sorts of gatherings in which members of large crowds permit themselves to display their enthusiasm not merely in public, but often in the presence of television cameras. At these events, banners are waved, cheers erupt, and shouts of encouragement occur. A crowd will sometimes take collective action, performing what has become known as "the wave" around a stadium holding tens of thousands of people. The highly public nature of the setting seems to fuel the fervor of the crowd, and the willingness of crowd members to display their emotion.
This expression of emotion, in addition to being enjoyable, serves important public functions, including the constructive, or at least passive channeling of public energy and the rallying of a community about a common cause. High-spirited public events stimulate the economy, bring a wholesome sense of well being to a community, and become the vehicle for regional or institutional spirit and unity.
In addition, the settings in which gatherings occur provide an opportunity for the promotion of products, services, events and attractions of interest to the attendees. Attendees are generally predisposed during these events to consume freely, taking advantage of the comparatively rare opportunity to indulge themselves in something they enjoy.
Sporting events in particular present promoters of products, services, events and other commercial activities an opportunity to reach a receptive audience, and one whose members are likely to be demographically well-understood. The tastes and preferences of these individuals may therefore be effectively targeted, so that an efficient match can be made between them and purchasing opportunities they are likely to find of interest. Promoters of products and services frequently consider it advantageous to establish a linkage between a popular competitor, such as a race car driver, golfer or other figure and a product or service. Not only does the attention paid to the public figure provide camera exposure for trademarks and logos associated with the product or service being promoted, but an element of celebrity or team sponsorship or endorsement is introduced, so that fans or spectators who admire and trust a particular athlete or other public figure will consider favorably the good or service being endorsed.
In recent years, opportunities for promotion of goods and services at public gatherings have been limited by physical constraints on available space. Scoreboards, billboards, automobile bodies, golf bags and similar objects present a decidedly finite number of opportunities, and this scarcity has driven up their price. In some instances, the fans or spectators themselves can present an opportunity for promotion, through the sale of hats, tee shirts and similar products. Some venues, however, prohibit certain of the more obtrusive means for expressing spirit, such as banners and other larger objects.
Between the need to expand beyond the presently saturated market for opportunities for promotion, and the inherently large and animated promotional vehicle presented by spectators themselves, an unmet need apparently exists for a device capable of harnessing that vehicle by providing a new means for fans and supporters to communicate their spirit and enthusiasm, while at the same time providing a new set of opportunities for promotion of teams, athletes or other public figures, as well as goods and services of interest to spectators.